I need to Find a Private Student Loan NOW

Paying for College
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<p>I am enrolled as an incoming freshman to UNC-Chapel Hill. I am however, from out-of-state, a resident of California, and so (naturally) tuition is relatively high for me.</p>

<p>My parents cannot afford to pay for my schooling, or to take out a loan on my behalf (e.g. Parent PLUS) so they are out of the question as far as college money is concerned.</p>

<p>When I received my financial aid package, it included a budget break-down and estimated my cost of attendance to be $37,444.00</p>

<p>However, changing up the numbers in the Budget Breakdown- lower cost housing plan, eliminating travel fees ( I don't have a car, and don't anticipate flying out anywhere during the year, ) and some other stuff as well, I came up with a new estimate : $ 33,180</p>

<p>Of course, the difference isn't GREAT, but, at this point I'm grateful for any reduction in my estimated cost of attendance.</p>

<p>Anyways, to the point: my institutional grant ($10, 081) + work study + direct subsidized AND unsubsidized loans = $ 18, 000 (approximately)</p>

<p>Leaving me with about $15,000 to come up with on my own. So, I am opting for the
much dreaded private student loans. I've heard the horror stories about this - I know it can prove to be an immense burden for the student in the long run. </p>

<p>But I am not posting to be convinced out of this decision. Believe me, I already have, and will continue to apply for outside scholarships. But, I need to take some other action NOW because I am supposed to begin classes in the Fall and I will recieve my first bill this month (July).</p>

<p>I'm posting to see if someone can recommend me any good lenders, particularly ones that don't require you to make payments while in school ( how could I make payments on a private loan during school when I'll already be working just to fulfill the work-study my university awarded me!)</p>

<p>A million thanks to absolutely any suggestions. I'm in a bit of a panic at this point.</p>

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<p>if someone can recommend me any good lenders, particularly ones that don’t require you to make payments while in school ( how could I make payments on a private loan during school when I’ll already be working just to fulfill the work-study my university awarded me!)</p>

<p>Very true.</p>

<p>*Anyways, to the point: my institutional grant ($10, 081) + work study + direct subsidized AND unsubsidized loans = $ 18, 000 (approximately)</p>

<p>Leaving me with about $15,000 to come up with on my own. So, I am opting for the
much dreaded private student loans. I’ve heard the horror stories about this - I know it can prove to be an immense burden for the student in the long run. *</p>

<p>You are stuck. You won’t be able to borrow that much money (nor should you) without your parents’ co-signing. If they can’t qualify for a Plus loan then they won’t qualify to co-sign either.</p>

<p>You already will be borrowing about $27k-30k in federal loans. You’re thinking about borrowing another $60k. That will leave you with about $90k in debt. That is waaay tooooo much for an undergrad.</p>

<p>What is your likely career and how much do you think you’ll be earning upon graduation? Do you have any idea how much your monthly payments will be with that much debt? </p>

<p>I know that you don’t want to be talked out of this, but without co-signers, banks aren’t going to lend to you.</p>

<p>I’m curious…you have a high EFC that your parents can’t afford, so why did they let you apply and choose an unaffordable school?</p>

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<p>I’m not going to try to talk you out of it. I don’t know where you can borrow that kind of money, but maybe someone else will.</p>

<p>However, while you working on that, think about some contingency plans if you just are flat-out unable to get the money. Will community college be your fall-back? Or taking a year off to re-think your options for the fall of 2011? Is there a CSU or UC you could get into, if not for fall, then for winter or spring term? Just stuff to start mulling over in case things don’t work out.</p>

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<p>You can always drop out quickly and enroll in a CC (most CC’s let you apply really late). Otherwise, you’re kinda stuck, considering it’s July and you need a $15k loan in 1.5 months. You might be able to go to a brick and mortar bank to negotiate…I heard it’s easier to get loans in a short amount of time that way. </p>

<p>That said, unless you have a LIFE GOAL of being a UNC student, you should probably find a cheaper option. Considering that you got into UNC from OOS (a big accomplishment BTW :)), I reckon you could probably get into the 5 or 6 colleges that still have spots open.</p>

<p>Maybe you can take a gap year off, and reapply next season. Most CSU’s are still only about $20k in-state, and they’re really not that bad.</p>

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<p>I suspect you are, according to financial aid calculations, from a family that is able to pay for, or finance, the $15,000 balance but - being from CA your middle class family doesn’t have the money or ability to live up to the FA formula expectations.</p>

<p>You need to have a back up plan firmly in place. Unless there is a miracle coming your way, you are stuck.</p>

<p>There is another thread from an NYU hopful on this forum with a long list of adults trying to explain the financial pitfalls of debt - it won’t be encouraging reading but a quick perusal of the advice offered to others in your situation is well documented there (emergency$, juliang).</p>

<p>Good luck - get your back up plan in order.</p>

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<p>^can you link it for us?</p>

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<p>^ This is probably the thread bchan1 is referring to <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/943312-emergency.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/943312-emergency.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Let’s approach this logically.</p>

<p>You are 18 years old. You have no real work history and never held a fulltime job (and any summer work is likely at a low hourly rate). You have no collateral. You don’t plan to enter the workforce fulltime for at least 4 years. And you want to borrow from a private bank $15,000 in a hurry. </p>

<p>This does not take into account that you want to borrow upwards of $60,000 from the private bank over the next four years (this is important - even if you can borrow $15,000 the first year there is no real reason to believe banks would want to lend you MORE money on top of the rest. 15K first year maybe, an additional 15K the next year? Highly unlikely.) Oh. And over the next four years you will be taking Federal Government Sub and Unsub loans in the amount of 23K - 30K? Maybe more? Total debt from government Staffords and privates banks of about 90K.</p>

<p>Logic time here. No one. No bank. No one at any bank wants to lend an 18 year old unemployed student $15,000. And again, if you swing it somehow, you may get completely stuck in subsequent years when the banks decide that 15K is maybe okay but a total of 30K in private loans is <em>not</em> … and now you are one year into UNC and can not continue into your sophomore year for lack of funds.</p>

<p>I’m not trying to talk you out of $90,000 in loans. Clearly this is your immediate life-wish and you don’t care (or more likely do not KNOW) how crippled you will be post-college living in that kind of debt. All I’m saying is in this economy, no bank will lend you that money. And if you do find a bank stupid enough to lend you that first 15K, chances are you’ll be back here on CC a year from now asking inevitable questions about what to do when one can not pay for their sophomore year when the banks finally cut you off.</p>

<p>See - Stafford loans (sub and unsub) are given to 18 year olds with zero collateral or work history or income come from your GOVERNMENT. No one else will lend you money. The Stafford GOVERNMENT BACKED loans have yearly limits and cumulative totals not because the government is too poor to lend out more money (clearly we print it at will these days) - but because even the government wants their money back and knows that more than 23K of debt is too burdensome.</p>

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<p>I’m mystified…how is it that kids like you, obviously bright and ambitious, don’t settle financial issues before you make college decisions? I’m sure you could have garnered some serious scholarship money, and maybe still can if you take a gap year and reapply to schools that have automatic or even competitive scholarships and are actively trying to recruit top students. Unfortunately, Chapel Hill is up to their eyeballs in such students and there is no magical way that money will appear without your parents help. Are they actually planning on contributing nothing to your education?</p>

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<p>^^I wonder about that also sk8rmom. How do they get to this point - a little over a month before the bills are due and are just figuring out they cannot afford? It’s really quite tragic. OP you will not find a bank that will lend you that kind of money without a cosigner. And if by some wild chance of imagination you do, the chances of it happening year 2, year 3 and year 4 are miniscule. Not sure how you ended up on the other side of the country in a public U but don’t want to guess. Please have a Plan B in pocket ASAP.</p>

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<p>*I’m mystified…how is it that kids like you, obviously bright and ambitious, don’t settle financial issues before you make college decisions? I’m sure you could have garnered some serious scholarship money, and maybe still can if you take a gap year and reapply to schools that have automatic or even competitive scholarships and are actively trying to recruit top students. *</p>

<p>I can’t figure this out either. How did it get to this point? The family had to know for quite some time that it couldn’t afford its EFC and that borrowing $60k wasn’t an option for them. </p>

<p>The student needs to take a gap year (not go to a CC unless the intent is to go to a UC later - however the same $$$ problems will happen then, too.) If the student takes a gap year and doesn’t attend any school, then she can reapply to schools as an incoming freshmen and get big scholarships. </p>

<p>A student who has an unaffordable EFC that has good stats (which this student likely has), can get BIG MERIT to help overcome the unaffordable EFC.</p>

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<p>I just looked at the OP’s other posts. UNC-CH has not been the student’s dream school, so I don’t know why the insistence on taking on this kind of debt.</p>

<p>She’s also known for awhile that her parents weren’t going to pay their EFC…</p>

<p>April 1st… I know for a fact that I will not recieve financial support from my parents towards my tuition (there’s just no way they can afford it, especially since my father is retiring soon), so I am in a state of panic as to how in the world I am going to make up for that EFC portion.
Money is an issue, yet, I don’t want it to terribly sway my decision.</p>

<p>I also am very determined to do a study abroad program, and would like the school that gives careful guidance in helping me setup my plan for studying abroad.</p>

<p>With this kind of debt, how will she have the money for a study abroad???</p>

<p>Where are the parents with all of this? Where are the adults???</p>

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<p>if you do not make payments when you are in school, your interest (which, on a high loan amount to an 18 year old and unsecured, will be massive) will be compounded while you are in school and added to your principal amount. Thus, you’re likely adding tens of thousands of dollars to your payback amount.<br>
That assumes you will be able to get a loan without a cosigner. Which you likely won’t. And since your parents cannot contribute to this cost, asking them to cosign is not an option.</p>

<p>All of the enlightened people on this board will have no advice for you except to withdraw your enrollment because this is not a sustainable loan situation. You will likely not physically have the money to enroll this fall. Even if you do, you will likely not be able to pay it back.</p>

<p>Did I mention that student loan debt CANNOT BE DISCHARGED WHEN DECLARING BANKRUPTCY?</p>

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<p>even if you do have a cosigner, they might b ot qualify for future loans for you as to your low credit rating and that of your parents in regards. At the same time, since you cannot pay the interest, your loan will be capitalized.</p>

<p>Honestly, this seems like a lot of stress for STate School, especially an OOS Public. You live in California, so you have access to a lot of more affordlabe UCs. It’s one thing if you live in a state with mediocre public poptions (such as in the NE where most of the good colleges are privatized) but in CAlifornia there is no need to go grubbing around for money to support some state school (even if its one as comparatively well-regarded as UNC-Chapel Hill).</p>

<p>Try for private loans if you must, but if you are rejected (which is fairly likely) then consider going to an instate CC and then taking a gap year to apply to private schools with good scholarship / ned-based aid opportunities (Ivy Leagues) and your state flagships that might give you a Call Grant and in-state tuition (which are often lowered compared to OOS tuition that is assessed for OOS students from North Carolina, unlike yourself).</p>

<p>In other areas, consider trying to get a summer job that will enable to cover the costs of future plans. You can’t earn enough to cut down on this bill from UNC-Chapel Hill but I hope you understand that this school isn’t your good choice and it’s not a good enough school to be worth this stress.</p>

<p>Good luck and Godpeed!</p>

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<p>I see the problem the OP has. Chapel Hill, as opposed to NYU gives out great aid. The COA Chapel Hill for her is probably equivalent to the COA a UC school. It sounds like her parents have enough resources that no school is affordable for her. That’s a tough pill to swallow. </p>

<p>The only solution would be to take a gap year and come up with a different strategy for next year. Possibly your circumstances will change and your EFC will be lower than 15K. But, that’s a pretty good deal for any school, even in-state. There is the possibility of big merit as mentioned above (obviously your a great student), but there is a chance that you would still have a gap of 15K or more. </p>

<p>It’s too bad your dad will not delay retirement until your out of school. Many of us parents take second jobs so our kids have the opportunity to attend school.</p>

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<p>UNC actually meets need for OOS students, so this seems to be the common case of parents who can’t meet EFC and a family that has not dealt with it. Why don’t more high schools help families work this through?</p>

<p>OP, delaying college a year to apply to financially comfortable schools may seem like a big deal now, but doing so will save you many years of being in a very bad debt situation.</p>

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<p>GTalum, this isn’t fair to the OP’s father. We have no insight into his retirement decision. Sometimes it’s not a freely-made choice. I agree it’s a pity that the students and parents didn’t realize earlier that UNC-CH was going to be unaffordable.</p>

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<p>Has the OP contacted the college’s FA department yet? Maybe she can explain her situation?..</p>

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<p>“GTalum, this isn’t fair to the OP’s father. We have no insight into his retirement decision. Sometimes it’s not a freely-made choice.” </p>

<p>Agreed. But, I’m sure financial aid offices will not be sensitive to “retirement” as a reason for not meeting EFC. Disability would be another matter. Plus, the family needs to realize that it will be tough to find a school to attend for less than 15K/year even with a big merit scholarship.</p>

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<p>Siglio21: and explain what situation? It’s July, tuition is due in August. IF the OP is in California, the OP can avail herself of one of the quite good CCs with a guaranteed transfer into a very good UC. This is not a horrible situation to be in. What’s somewhat horrible is letting this situation drag on for however months it’s dragged on. There are wishy-washy parents who will stand back and say something like “well…, if you can figure it out you can go” which is tragic if that is what happened here. This is a student that has accepted admission to a college clear across the country, wants to do foreign study and all the college bells and whistles and simply can’t afford to do this. Whether the parents didn’t understand or the student didn’t understand or whether there was just alot of wishing for the tuition fairy…who knows. But thank goodness this is a California student because there are very viable options or if that is totally distasteful, the student defers or takes a year off and puts another plan together. Even if the OP goes to finaid with the dad’s impending retirement and this is an involuntary retirement the college is not going to take that into account until the retirement occurs so it does not help the OP right this minute. Unless there is something we don’t know there is no “story” to take to finaid to receive $15,000 x 4.</p>